DENISE RICHARDS WILL WARM YOUR HEART, TOO; BESIDES BEING BEAUTIFUL, `DROP DEAD GORGEOUS' STAR IS SIMPLY ONE NICE GIRL.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer

Given the insolent young women she has played so convincingly in movies like ``Wild Things'' and the current beauty pageant satire, ``Drop Dead Gorgeous,'' it's a surprise to meet Denise Richards and find her to be so darn ... nice.

And it's not an act. Go behind the glamorous looks that have left male moviegoers speechless (and women a little green with envy), and you have an unfailingly polite, friendly Midwestern woman who would have been perfectly at home in a Norman Rockwell tableau - if Rockwell had been into, say, Varga girls.

``She is very nice; but when you look at her, you don't expect that,'' says ``Drop Dead Gorgeous'' director Michael Patrick Jann. ``She's a walking magazine cover, and you expect that a diva attitude will come along with that. But she has a grace to her. Sometimes it seems like she's holding something back when all it is is that she doesn't want to say anything bad.''

``Wild Things'' director John McNaughton agrees that expectations don't jibe with reality when it comes to Richards.

``When I first heard Denise's name, I (heard) she was this fabulously wealthy princess who was brought up by her parents in some isolated palace tower and raised to be a movie star,'' McNaughton says. (Interestingly enough, that description fits Richards' ``Drop Dead Gorgeous'' character to a T.)

``So when I met her,'' McNaughton continues, ``I was kind of intimidated by her obvious physical beauty and this myth. When we got to know one another a little better, I asked her where she was from - trying to dig around a little, find out about the whole palace tower thing. She told me she was from Chicago and that her dad worked for the phone company.''

So much for the palace tower theory. Richards laughs - and she has a big, throaty roar - about the way her looks inspire certain presumptions in people.

``I think there are some people that hope I'm a bitch,'' she says, laughing with glee. ``Personally, I don't ever want to work with someone who considers herself a diva, much less be one. Who has time for that? If I ever got a big head, my family would be the first people to put me back into line. I'm a nice person, and I enjoy working with nice people, too.''

And from the way her career is steadily moving forward, people seem to like working with Richards, too. After taking almost a year off after ``Wild Things,'' Richards landed a part she seemed born to play - the Bond girl - in the upcoming 007 feature, ``The World Is Not Enough.'' Richards plays a nuclear scientist (!) named Dr. Christmas Jones. Obviously, with a name like that (and with a figure like Richards'), the actress won't be spending too much time on screen wearing a lab coat.

Being a Bond girl meant a six-month shoot in England, countless hours spent doing silly things in front of a blue screen (``Acting really is a ridiculous job,'' Richards says, again with the laugh) and the inevitable offer to follow in her predecessors' footsteps and pose nude for Playboy. Richards declined.

``They made a very generous offer, but I didn't even have to think about it,'' she says. ``It's not like I'm against nudity. After all, I did that scene for `Wild Things.' And I'm comfortable with my sexuality. But at the end of the day, Playboy isn't where I'm at.''

Back to that ``Wild Things'' scene. For those who missed the movie (it was a bigger hit on video than in theaters), Richards stripped down to her birthday suit for a steamy menage a trois with Neve Campbell and Matt Dillon. She knew that by doing it she ran the risk of being stereotyped, and sure enough, for months after the movie opened, Richards was deluged with scripts containing ``eight-page lesbian scenes'' and other carnal acts. She passed and didn't work for nearly a year.

``That was hard, but at the same time I'm trying to be a good actress,'' Richards says, citing Susan Sarandon as a role model. ``I want to have a long career. I'd rather be a great actress than be a movie star.''

Her patience has been rewarded. Richards was recently cast opposite Ben Affleck and Luke Wilson in ``The Third Wheel,'' a romantic comedy from Miramax that recently began filming. Richards - surprise - plays Affleck's dream girl.

She hasn't always been known for glamour. Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Richards grew up as a tomboy, playing in the dirt, eating bugs and hanging out with boys who did the same. Her favorite Halloween costume speaks volumes: Richards loved dressing up as a hobo. (Another blow to the princess theory.)

Somewhere around the age of 10, though, a transformation took place.

``I don't know what happened,'' says Richards, who lists her age as ``20-something,'' with sources putting it around 28. ``One day I discovered makeup and clothes, and I've never gone back.''

Her father and housewife mother moved the family (Richards has a younger sister) to Oceanside when Richards was 15. She soon began a modeling career, landing a YM magazine cover and a print campaign for Bonnie Bell. She kept it a secret from all but her closest friends, however, afraid of the teasing that might ensue.

Bored with modeling, she moved to Los Angeles after graduation and landed parts on ``Doogie Howser, M.D.,'' ``Life Goes On,'' ``Seinfeld'' and ``Melrose Place.'' (Richards played Loni Anderson's daughter, a pretty good bit of ``Melrose'' casting.) She also made several straight-to-video movies before landing a role in 1997's bugfest ``Starship Troopers.''

She had met ``Starship'' director Paul Verhoeven during an audition for his sex romp ``Showgirls.'' Fortunately for Richards' career, Elizabeth Berkley got the part. ``I don't think I could have done it anyway,'' Richards says.

Most of her roles have revolved around her bombshell beauty, but Richards brushes her glamorous image off as mostly smoke and mirrors.

``What people don't realize is all the work that goes into looking like this,'' Richards says. ``I mean, when I'm on a movie set, I'm in a trailer for two hours while they fuss with my hair and makeup. Off the set, I don't think I'm any big deal.''

Indeed, when she's not working, Richards can typically be found wearing jeans and a T-shirt (sans makeup) and cruising the malls with her sister (``my best friend,'' Richards says) and boyfriend Patrick Muldoon (he co-starred with her in ``Starship Troopers''). She even made a trip - or three - out to the cavernous Mall of America when filming ``Drop Dead Gorgeous'' in Minnesota. (``You can't go more than 10 feet in any direction without running into a Gap or Body Shop,'' Richards says.)

Sounds ... nice.

``I loved being back in the Midwest,'' Richards says earnestly. ``People are great back there. In Hollywood, if you're polite, people usually think, `OK. What does she want?' I've had people say, `You're so nice,' like they were suspicious that I had some hidden agenda. In the Midwest, nice is nice.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1--Cover--Color) NICE GIRLS FINISH FIRST

`Drop Dead Gorgeous' star Denise Richards is really down-to-earth

(2) After roles in several TV shows and the films ``Starship Troopers'' and ``Wild Things,'' Denise Richards returns to the screen with ``Drop Dead Gorgeous.''

(3) Denise Richards, left and Kirsten Dunst are small-town beauty contestants in ``Drop Dead Gorgeous.''